Former FIFA referee Cuneyt Cakir, who was on the international list from 2006 to 2022, will head the referee department of the Georgian Football Federation. The experienced ex-referee was presented by the General Secretary of the GFF at a meeting with the referees of the National League. "First of all, I would like to thank the SFF leadership in general. We have had excellent communication since I was offered this position. The SFF management shared with me their vision, plans and opinions regarding refereeing. This positive attitude is the main reason why I am here today. In my career I have participated in many big matches and tournaments. My main goal has always been to achieve sustainable success. Our first goal will be to take steps towards sustainable success. We will introduce international standards in the training of referees and will try to involve more Georgian referees in international matches. We respect all clubs, players and coaches, and we expect the same respect on the field in return. Our goal is to prepare all the referees in the best possible way for the national championship games, so that only the quality of football shown on the field will be the talking point. We are neighbours and I want stronger ties between our countries to be formed during my stay here", said Cakir.
The general secretary of the SFF, Davit Mujir, thanked the former head of the referees' department, Mikheil Maziashvili, who has been in charge of this direction since 2021. "The referee department of the Georgian Football Federation will be headed by Cuneyt Cakir, an experienced ex-FIFA referee. It should be noted that the Turkish specialist will live in Georgia and will be at the head of all the projects that are being implemented for the development of referees of the SFF. Of course, in the near future we will inform you about the innovations that will be introduced. I am satisfied that the experience he has accumulated over the years in the international arena will be beneficial for the development of refereeing in Georgia. Cuneyt Cakir already held the first meeting with the referees of the top division today. From August 14, a 5-day training session will be held with an expanded composition. As you know, since last year, we introduced a video referee system in the national championship. After the September training break, all National League matches will be played with a video assistant referee. At the mentioned gathering, the current referees of the national championship will undergo another training together with Mr. Cakir and get acquainted with the news”, explained Davit Mujir.
A well-known Turkish referee, Cakir has been regularly refereeing high-level matches held under the auspices of UEFA and FIFA, such as the 2012 Euro semi-final Spain – Portugal, 2012 FIFA Club World Cup final Corinthians – Chelsea, 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final Netherlands – Argentina, 2015 Champions League final Barcelona – Juventus, 2018 FIFA World Cup semi-final Croatia – England. Following his 204 international matches and 385 games refereed in the Turkish Super League between 2001-2022, Cakir became a FIFA and UEFA instructor and observer.
Source: GFF
